Philandering In the Red Lamp District—Brazil’s HIV Infection Rates Increase After World Cup 2014

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In the aftermath of the World Cup 2014 in Brazil, news of business transactions in the streets and not the stadiums has become quite a concern, as the oldest profession known to man has brought devastating crime and disease to a global level.

A nation where prostitution is still a legal and viable way to make a living, this summer Brazil became a hot spot for crime and philandering, as prostitution was pushed to its boundaries for the chance to profit off of the World Cup 2014. With an average per capita income less than $333 US dollars a month, most of the Brazilian population lives far below the American poverty line. However, young women over the age of 18 found that they could make nearly an entire year's worth of wages (if not more) in the month of the FIFA World Cup events, as international travelers brought a wealth of new capital and were willing to spend.

In the days leading up to the World Cup, prostitution unions implemented courses on how to speak English with a particular focus on terms of erotica to help boost acquisition of clients during the games. But it wasn't the language that increased revenue, nor the "discounted rates" that some tourists were afforded because of their home teams. Researchers say that the boom in clientele was merely a numbers game, with nearly 675,000 tourists rushing to the Brazilian cities.

"I can say in English: 'Hello baby, want something tasty?'. And 'Let me show you a good time. I can do it real nice for you'" a prostitute named Tatiane told reporters for the Mirror in the red lamp district of Rio de Janeiro. The married, mother of two claims she can be with between 15 and 20 clients a night, all without her husband knowing.

"He would kill me if he found out. The trouble is I really like doing this. It's easy money and I reckon I can get nearly $17,000 with the World Cup tourists" Tatiane said. "And I'm definitely targeting the English men-I hear they really like us sexy Brazilian women."

Proof of what sociologist Marlene Teixeira Rodrigues at the University of Brasilia calls the "daily hell" of the Brazilian woman.

"There is a demand for us [Brazilian women] to be hypersexual, for a performance that fits the idea... especially if you're mixed race and even more if you're black" Teixeira Rodrigues says. "At the same time, since our culture is also conservative, there Is also the possibility you will be discriminated against for having that desire."

In the battle between modesty and money, the elusive dollar won out as more than 30% of new prostitutes joined the factions of the national union in the weeks preceding the events, bringing the number of Brazilian prostitutes working the streets to nearly one million strong. Shockingly, even greater numbers were reported for the illegal sex trade that happened behind closed doors.

It is reported that an increase between 30 and 40 percent was seen in the illegal trade of underage prostitution, with some children as young as 10 offering sex for as little as fifty cents a client. In more urban locations, where poverty is rampant, sex acts were exchanged for the equivalent of food, and children were coerced by pimps and parents to bring income into the family homes.

Underlying this issue are the statistics that show HIV infections are running rampant throughout Brazil, in spite of the nation's unified push towards safe practices.

"The numbers are going up. It's a paradox [and] a shame" Dr. Caio Rosenthal, from the Emilio Ribas Institute of Infectious Disease in Sao Paulo, said. "After all of the money spent on treatments and implementing a policy for everyone to receive it, we have these disastrous results."

The Brazilian national Health Ministry says that HIV infections have reached nearly 800,000 and are expected to rise. Comprising more than half of all HIV infections throughout all of Latin America, Brazil faces increasing deaths and transmission as unlawful sex practices and unsafe prostitution persist in the nation. With nearly 10,000 international clients serviced a night, as estimated by local governments throughout the course of the World Cup, Brazilian officials urge tourists and John's who participated in sex acts with prostitutes in Brazil to get tested as soon as they can.